System and method for forced commercial viewing

ABSTRACT

A viewer&#39;s attention to televised advertisement ( 41, 43, 45 ) is encouraged by offering and providing the viewer ( 102 ) with a reward as an incentive to watch and/or interact with one or more commercial segments ( 41, 43, 45 ) of the broadcast. By providing such rewards to viewers, commercial advertisers on a broadcast are more reliably assured that the commercial segments are being viewed. The viewer may be rewarded the viewer ( 102 ) with the opportunity to watch an otherwise scrambled future broadcast at no charge. By transmitting an entitlement (EMM) message only during the commercial segments, a viewer ( 102 ) whose receiving device (e.g., set-top box) is tuned to the station broadcasting the commercial segment ( 41, 43, 45 ) will receive the EMM message required to descramble the future broadcast Further, the viewer may be required to participate or interact in some manner with the commercial segment to insure the viewer&#39;s presence.

The present invention relates generally to the field of broadcast andreception, and more particularly to a technique for providing rewards inaccordance to a user's interaction behavior with a program service suchas pay television.

One type of entertainment device that has experienced wide acceptance isthe television. Television has become one of the most widespread mediumsfor broadcasting content to a viewer. Almost every house in the UnitedStates and in most other developed countries has access to a television.Families congregate around the television to enjoy movies, sitcoms,instructional programming, comedy shows, and more. Conventionaltelevision may receive its signals from a content broadcast source viacable, satellite, antenna, or other device. The channels are “tuned”either by the television itself or by a set top box. Content is providedby a plurality of content broadcast sources, in return for advertisingrevenue. One of the ways a content broadcast source derives revenue isthrough the sale of time slots for commercial advertising. A companypromoter pays for a time slot during a particular broadcast, such as amovie or a sitcom, to promote a company product. The company promoterrelies on the power of the advertisement to motivate each viewer eitherto travel to a store to purchase the product or to order the product viatelephone or Internet connection. The TV commercials are strategicallyinserted into the regular TV programs and broadcasted at certain timeintervals so that the television viewers who are interested in watchingregular TV programs also watch inserted TV commercials. However, to thedisappointment of the commercial advertisers, only an extremely smallpercentage of these viewers pay attention to these commercials.Furthermore, they tend to only watch commercials for products for whichthey have an immediate need, interest or curiosity. An associatedproblem in reaching a viewing audience for the purpose of advertising isthe staggering number of viewing choices available today. Cabletelevision systems typically offer one-hundred or more channels toviewer subscribers. As a result, it remains increasingly difficult toretain a viewer's attention during commercial segments. When acommercial segment appears, viewers are known to “channel surf”, i.e.,jump from channel to channel to escape or avoid having to watch thecommercial segments. A surfer will typically not spend more than two orthree seconds on any one channel unless there is something on the screenat that precise moment which is of interest. Channels with commercialscurrently airing and most movies deemed to be well in progress aresurfed over almost instantly with very little pause.

This leads to serious challenges to the TV content providers andbroadcasters who are currently dependent on selling effective TVcommercials for supporting their content creation and broadcasting. Theeffectiveness of the current TV commercial broadcasting model ischallenged as a result.

Hence, there is a real need in the art for a system and method whichovercomes the problem of viewers switching channels during commercialbreaks to avoid having to watch the commercial segments.

The present invention provides a system and a method for encouraging aviewer's attention to televised advertisement. In brief, when a vieweris watching a currently televised broadcast, there is a risk that theviewer will “escape” to another channel to avoid watching the commercialsegments of the broadcast. This problem is addressed by the invention byoffering and providing the viewer with a reward as an incentive to staytuned to the channel during the commercial segments. By providing suchrewards to viewers, broadcast sponsors (i.e., commercial advertisers)are more reliably assured that the commercial segments they produce arebeing viewed.

According to an embodiment of the invention there is provided a systemand method in which a content provider encourages a viewer to watch thecommercial segments of a current broadcast by rewarding the viewer, suchas with the opportunity to watch, at no charge, an otherwise scrambledfuture broadcast requiring a descrambling fee. In accordance with theembodiment, by transmitting the entitlement (EMM) message only duringthe commercial segments, a viewer whose receiving device is tuned to thepre-determined station (channel) of interest to the commercialadvertiser offering the reward incentive, will receive the EMM messagerequired to descramble the future broadcast at no charge. Conversely, aviewer who does not stay tuned to the channel during the commercialbroadcast will not receive the EMM message and thus will not have themeans necessary to descramble the subsequent broadcast free of charge.

In another embodiment, to overcome the problem of a viewer's set-top boxbeing appropriately tuned to the broadcast station during the commercialsegments while the viewer is elsewhere (i.e., not watching as expected),the viewer is required to participate or interact in some manner withthe commercial segment to insure the viewer's presence. Interaction withthe commercial segment may take any number of forms including, forexample, but not limited to, filling in an electronic form including aviewer's profile to be transmitted to the content provider, requiringthe viewer to play a game related to the product being endorsed in thecommercial segment or requesting that the viewer fill in a barcode of analready purchased product to be transmitted to the content provider. Inthis manner, a broadcast sponsor (i.e., commercial advertiser) isassured that the viewer is attentive to the broadcasted commercialsegments.

The foregoing features of the present invention will become more readilyapparent and may be understood by referring to the following detaileddescription of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a system of theinvention according to one embodiment,

FIG. 2 is more detailed illustration of an integrated receiver device ofthe system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of FIG. 1 including thosecomponents which facilitate or deny access to a broadcast;

FIG. 4 a is an exemplary illustration of two transport streams, whereineach transport stream includes a plurality of multiplexed services;

FIG. 4 b is an exemplary illustration of a single transport stream ownedby a single service provider in which the commercial segments of themultiplexed services are horizontally aligned;

FIG. 4 c is an exemplary illustration of a single transport stream ownedby two different service providers in which the commercial segments ofthe multiplexed services are not horizontally aligned; and

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a CA module modified in a manner to insurethat a viewer is watching the correct service (TV channel).

Although the following detailed description contains many specifics forthe purpose of illustration, one of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that many variations and alterations to the followingdescription are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, thefollowing preferred embodiment of the invention is set forth without anyloss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, theclaimed invention.

The present invention is described in terms of television advertising,however, it is equally operative for advertising over the Internet,various forms of interactive television (e.g., WebTV, RealTV), Radio andAudio on Demand (e.g., Internet radio), and various forms of video andVideo on Demand (including CATV, satellite, Internet Television, etc.).

FIG.1, illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a conditionalaccess system 100.

Included in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is a broadcast station 101 coupledto receiver(s) 120A, 120B, 120C (referred to as 120) via a network 119and optional back channel(s) 125A, 125B, 125C (referred to as 125).Integrated receiving devices 120 may comprise any number of suitabledevices including a set-top box (STB), hybrid TV or digital TV. Further,broadcast station 101 is shown coupled to advertiser 103. A singleadvertiser is shown for ease of explanation. Broadcast station 101includes programming sources 105, 106, broadcast server 110, multiplexer116 and transmitter 118. Source 103 generates advertising content 113and sources 105, 106 generate programming content 107, 108 which aremultiplexed in multiplexer 116 to form transport stream 117, to bedescribed further below with reference to FIG. 4. Broadcast server 110maintains a database 112 of interactive applications 115. The variousinteractive applications 115 are associated with individual commercialssupplied from advertiser 103. The interactive applications 115 aredesigned in such a way to ensure that a viewer (i.e., subscriber) 102A,102B, 102C (referred to as 102) has watched and/or participated with acommercial broadcast. The broadcast server 110 associates particularinteractive applications 115 with particular commercials supplied fromthe advertiser 103. While the interactive applications are optional,when used, they are multiplexed into transport stream 117.

Subsequent to its creation, programming content 107, 108, commercialsegments 113 and optionally interactive applications 115 may bedelivered to receiver(s) 120 through network 119. The broadcast signal117 is broadcast via a transmitter 118 over transmission medium throughthe network 119 to the receivers 120. As used herein, a “broadcaster”101 is any entity providing programming content that will be carried ona broadcast signal 121. The transmission medium may be a terrestrialcable, satellite, antenna(s) or any other transmission means.

The viewer's integrated receiver devices (IRD) 120 of FIG. 1 may beconfigured differently depending upon whether the intended broadcastmarket is a horizontal or vertical market.

Turning now to FIG. 2 a, one embodiment of the integrated receiverdevice (IRD) 120 of FIG. 1 for use in a “horizontal” market, is shown.In a typical horizontal market, descrambling is broadcaster independent.That is, descrambling is performed by a CA module 216 connected to acommon interface (CI) 214. The CI 214 permits the use of different CAmodules from different vendors allowing broadcasters to use their ownproprietary descrambling technique. Typically, the CI 214 is a PCMCIAslot in which a CA module 216 can be inserted. It is noted that in theUnited States, the CI 214 is commonly referred to as a point ofdeployment (POD).

The IRD 120 of FIG. 2 a is configured to receive the broadcast signal121 via network 119, and convey output information including video 224a, audio 224 b, sub-titling 224 c and teletext 224 d information to adisplay 221 or recording device. In the embodiment shown, IRD 120includes modem 210 for sending requests like EMM requests, back tobroadcaster 101. The input signal 121 may be received over terrestriallines, cable lines or via satellite at demodulator 212. The demodulatedsignal is output to the common interface (CI) module 214. ConditionalAccess module 216 is shown coupled to CI module 214 to performdescrambling when needed. The CI module 214 outputs a signal todemultiplexer 222 which separates the signal into respective signalcomponents, such as video 224 a, audio 224 b, sub-titling 224 c andteletext 224 d for display on the display device 221. Middleware 220represents the high level control and graphical user interface of theIRD 120. Applications 115 are interactive applications, such as, forexample, Java applets commonly referred to as xlets. The applications115 are often used in horizontal markets and are typically sent togetherwith the programming contact 107, 108, as described above with referenceto FIG. 1.

Turning now to FIG. 2 b, one embodiment of the IRD device 120 of FIG. 1is shown for use in a “vertical” market In contrast to the horizontalmarket in a typical vertical market, descrambling is broadcasterdependent. Typically, a broadcaster sells an IRD module 120, such as theone shown in FIG. 2 b, specific to the broadcaster, thereby allowing theviewer access to the broadcaster's network. As shown, the IRD 120 ofFIG. 2 b contains a CA module that is closely connected to the DEMUXi.e., Demux/CA 222. In this manner, the cost of the IRD 120 is cheaperto produce than the IRD of FIG. 2 a, however, the IRD 120 of FIG. 2 bcan only be used for one specific broadcaster. This situation isspecific for use in “vertical” markets. As a further distinction betweenthe IRDs of FIG. 2 a and 2 b, there is no application unit 115 shown inFIG. 2 b. This occurs because vertical markets do not utilizedownloadable applications like xlets, for example.

Prior to further describing the embodiments of the invention, it isinstructive to look at another aspect of the conditional access system100 of FIG. 1. In particular, a more detailed illustration will beprovided of the conditional access system 100 of FIG. 1 describing thosemodules which facilitate or deny access to a broadcast.

As is well known, in a pay service arrangement between a broadcaster 101and a plurality of subscribers 102, the subscribers 102 subscribe to abasic service upon payment of a subscription fee, commonly referred toas a ‘conditional access’ system. To enforce the payment of such fees,and to prevent unauthorized access from non-subscribers, the signal maybe encoded by the broadcaster, and require some sort of de-scrambler tofacilitate access to the information. The signal may be scrambled,encrypted, or otherwise locked from viewing until the user agrees to payfor access. When the user decides to obtain the television broadcast,the service provider (broadcaster) exchanges an electronic access key tothe scrambled, encrypted, or otherwise locked data in exchange foragreement to his commercial terms.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of FIG. 1 including thosecomponents which facilitate or deny access to broadcast. As isconventional in a conditional access system 100, the programming content107, 108 to be broadcast, is encoded in encoder 1 using an appropriatecoding system, for example MPEG-II for digital broadcasting. The encodedbroadcast stream is encrypted or scrambled in a scrambler 2 under thecontrol of a control word CW generated by a control word generator 3 ina manner which is well-known per se. The control word is encrypted intoan Entitlement Control Message (ECM) by an ECM generator 4 together withaccess criteria which identify the service and the conditions requiredto access the service. For example, the access criteria may specifyregional limitations on the broadcast. A further type of message,referred to as an Entitlement Management Message (EMM), which carriesdetails of the subscriber and his subscription is generated by an EMMgenerator 5. While an ECM message is associated with a scrambled programor set of programs and carries the information required to decrypt thoseprograms, an EMM message is a message dedicated to an individual user orgroup of users and carries the information necessary to determinewhether those users have the necessary subscriptions in place to be ableto view the programs.

The scrambled encoded broadcast stream (e.g., originating fromprogramming content 107) together with the ECM and EMM messages ismultiplexed in a multiplexer 6 with other broadcast streams (e.g.,programming content 108 or originating therefrom). The package is sentto a transmitter 118 from which it is transmitted, via network 119. Thescrambled encoded broadcast stream is received at a subscriber'sintegrated receiver device (IRED) 120. The IRD 120 serves to demodulatethe broadcast signal 121 received from broadcast station 101 and toseparate the components of the signal, such as different televisionprograms and interactive applications.

On receipt at the receiver 120, the received and demodulated data isdemultiplexed in a demultiplexer 11, which may be embodied as DMX 222 ofFIG. 2 a, to extract the required program and its associated ECM and EMMmessages. The extracted ECM and EMM messages are sent to a logic controlunit 12 which processes the incoming EMM's and ECM's along with requestsfrom the client (e.g., descramble requests). The logic control unit 12outputs control words required as input by the descrambler 13. Thecontrol word comprises alternating odd and even control words which arealternated at, for example, two second intervals. Each control word ischanged at predetermined intervals, for example, every twenty seconds. Acontinuous stream of ECM messages is therefore required to descramblethe scrambled signal. The EMM message can be updated less frequently.

Control unit 12 uses the ECM and EMM messages to determine whether thesubscriber has the right to view the broadcast and if so, to decrypt thecontrol word CW, which is input to a descrambler 13 together with thescrambled broadcast stream to recover the original MPEG-II encodedbroadcast stream. The encoded stream is passed to a multiplexer 14 whichoutputs the multiplexed signal to demultiplexer 15 which in turn outputsthe demultiplexed signal to a decoding and rendering module 16 whichproduces an output signal comprising audio, video and data componentsfor display on the subscriber's television 17.

The conventional form of ECM and EMM messages is well known in the art,e.g., as defined in the international standard ISO IEC 13818-1, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In one embodiment, a viewer (subscriber) 102 is encouraged to watch thecommercial segments (advertising content) 113 of a current broadcast byrewarding the viewer 102 with the opportunity to watch a subsequentprogram at no charge. To receive the reward, all that is required of theviewer 102 is to maintain his or her receiver 120 at the same station orchannel during the commercial segments of the current broadcast. Bymaintaining the receiver 120 at the same station during the commercialsegments, an EMM message is received at the receiver 120 enabling thereceiver 120 to descramble a subsequent program, free of charge, as areward to the viewer

In operation, the Broadcaster 101 sends the EMM message only during thecommercial breaks or segments of a live television broadcast, as shownin FIG. 4 b. As is well known, the EMM message is a necessary dataelement required by the viewer's IRD 120 to descramble a broadcastedprogram. By maintaining the IRD 120 to the same channel during thecommercial segments or breaks, the EMM message transmitted by thebroadcaster 101 will be received at the demultiplexer unit 11 of theviewer's receiver 120 thereby providing the means necessary todescramble a subsequent program as a reward to the viewer.

Referring now to FIG. 4 a, there is shown an exemplary illustration oftwo transport streams 117 ₁ and 117 ₂, wherein each transport streamincludes a plurality of multiplexed services. In particular, exemplarytransport stream 117 ₁ is comprised of three multiplexed services 107 ₁,108 ₁, and 109 ₁, and exemplary transport stream 117 ₂ is comprised ofmultiplexed services 107 ₂ and 108 ₂. A small number of multiplexedservices are shown for ease of explanation. As shown in FIG. 4 a,service provider 1 owns transport stream 117 ₁ in its entirety whichincludes multiplexed services 107 ₁, 108 ₁, 109 ₁. By contrast, theownership of transport streams 117 ₂ is shared. For example, serviceprovider 2 owns multiplexed service 107 ₂ and service provider 3 ownsmultiplexed service 108 ₂.

In the case where a single service provider owns the entire transportstream, (i.e., service provider 1) the service provider can insure thatthe commercial segments (breaks) of each multiplexed service in thestream are horizontally programmed (aligned) 41, as shown in FIG. 4 b.In the case of horizontal alignment, a viewer may switch from anyservice to any other service within the same transport stream, e.g.,from service 107 ₁, to 108 ₁, or from 109 ₁ to 107 ₁ and still beguaranteed to receive the EMM, thus satisfying the advertiser'srequirements for receiving the reward.

In the more common case where a single transport stream is owned bydifferent service providers, (i.e., service providers 2 and 3) there isno longer a guarantee that the respective multiplexed services whichmake up the transport stream will be horizontally programmed (aligned).This more common situation is illustrated in FIG. 4 c. In particular,transport stream 117 ₂ is comprised of two multiplexed services. A firstservice 107 ₂ owned by service provider 2, and a second service 108 ₂owned by service provider 3. As is conventional, there is no horizontalalignment of the commercial segments or breaks between the differentlyowned transport streams 107 ₂ and 108 ₂. As shown in FIG. 4 c,commercial segments 43 are not horizontally aligned with commercialbreaks 45. It therefore becomes necessary to provide some means oftracking that a viewer is watching the correct service (TV channel) ofthe transport stream. Otherwise, the viewer would simply receive the EMMregardless of which station is being viewed, in which case the viewerwould be unjustly rewarded. It must be determined that the EMM beingreceived is the EMM associated with the pre-determined channel ofinterest.

One approach for insuring that the viewer is watching the correctservice is to extend the CA module with some additional functionality,as will be described now with reference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates a CA module 502 modified in a manner to insure that aviewer is watching the correct TV channel in the case where multipleservice providers provide commercial breaks at unpredictable intervals.In particular, a first input signal 512 is provided to the CA module 502informing the CA module which of the multiplexed services (IV channels)is currently being viewed by the viewer. A second input signal 522provided to the CA module 502 is the EMM which includes additionalinformation specifying the channel which must be viewed in order toreceive the reward from the advertiser. The modified CA module 502operates by only storing the EMM in the case where the channelinformation included in the EMM (i.e., the channel which must bewatched) matches the channel currently being watched by the viewer. Inother words, the EMM is stored only in the case of a match between theviewed and the pre-determined channel thus guaranteeing that the vieweris watching the commercial segments of the predetermined channel.

A shortcoming of the previous embodiment is that it is quite common forviewers 102 to leave during commercials or other breaks and returnshortly thereafter. While the user's receiver may be tuned to theappropriate channel, the viewer may be elsewhere. This situation isundetectable in the first embodiment. One manner of detecting the actualpresence of viewers, which overcomes the problem of a viewer's IRD 120being appropriately tuned while the viewer is not present, is describedin the present embodiment. That is, the present embodiment provides asolution to the question: Is the viewer in fact actually present in theroom and watching the commercial segment?

In accordance with the present embodiment, the viewer is required toparticipate or interact in some manner with the commercial segment toinsure the viewer's presence. Interaction with the commercial segmentmay take any number of forms including, for example:

-   -   Filling in an electronic form including a viewer's profile to be        transmitted to the content provider.    -   Requiring the viewer to play a game related to the product being        endorsed in the commercial segment.    -   Requesting that the viewer fill in a barcode, or any other        suitable code that is uniquely related to an already purchased        product, to be transmitted back to the content provider via the        back channel 125. Alternatively, in the case where a back        channel is not utilized, the viewer would not be required to        transmit the barcode information back to the content provider        but could instead report the code to the content provider via a        voice response system or consumer help desk, for example.    -   Clicking the remote controller in response to prompts from the        television set or from the set-top box unit, once or several        times.    -   Requesting that the viewer rate the commercial segment based on        a variety of factors.

In this manner, a broadcast sponsor (i.e., commercial advertiser) isassured that the viewer is present and attentive to the commercialbroadcast.

In each of the described embodiments, the number of EMM messages thatmust be received to qualify for the reward may be preferably determinedby the sponsor. In the most stringent case, a sponsor may require theviewer to view each commercial segment which corresponds to receivingthe EMM message transmitted during each commercial break. In otherscenarios, the number of commercial segments (e.g., N) which must beviewed may vary dependent upon the level of viewer attention demanded bythe sponsor. As one example, a sponsor may require the viewer to view atleast N=4 commercial segments corresponding to receiving 4 EMM messages.It is noted that in certain embodiments, a single received EMM message,i.e., N=1, may qualify the viewer to receive the reward. An EMM countermay be used to count the number of received EMM messages and compare thetotal against an EMM threshold.

It should be noted that the previous description of the preferredembodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to makeor use the present invention. The various modifications to theseembodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, aswell as other embodiments, without the use of the inventive faculty.Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to theembodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

1. A method for encouraging a viewer (102) to watch the commercialsegments of a pre-determined channel, the pre-determined channelincluded as part of a broadcast signal (121) transmitted to a pluralityof integrated receiver devices (IRDs) (120) belonging to respectiveviewers (102), the broadcast signal (121) being comprised of a pluralityof channels grouped as one or more transport streams (117), each of saidplurality of channels comprising programming content (107, 108)interspersed with commercial segments (113) and entitlement managementmessages (EMMs), the EMMs transmitted substantially coincident in timewith the commercial segments, the method comprising the acts of: (a)receiving the broadcast signal (121) at a viewer's IRD (120); (b)determining whether the viewer's IRD (120) is tuned to thepre-determined channel during a time substantially coincident with thebroadcast of at least N commercial segments associated with saidpre-determined channel; (c) rewarding the viewer (102) when saiddetermining act (b) is satisfied.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining act (b) further comprises the acts of: i.) initializing anEMM counter, ii.) during the broadcast of an i^(th) commercial segmentof a viewed channel:
 1. determining the identity of the viewed channel;2. determining the identity of a pre-determined channel required to beviewed for receiving the reward;
 3. comparing the identity of the viewedchannel with the identity of the pre-determined channel;
 4. storing theEMM when there is a match at said comparison step;
 5. incrementing theEMM counter when there is a match at said comparison step; and 6.proceeding to act (c) of claim 1 when the EMM counter is equal to apre-determined threshold count N, otherwise repeating acts (1) through(6) for an (i+1)^(th) commercial segment of the viewed channel.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the rewarding act (c) further comprises theact of using the previously stored EMM and an ECM (Entitlement ControlMessage) to generate a control word to descramble at least one futurescrambled television program free of charge to the viewer (102).
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the broadcast signal (121) is distributedover one of a wireless and/or wired system.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising the act of determining whether the viewer (102) iswatching the pre-determined channel during the time substantiallycoincident with the broadcast of at least one commercial segmentassociated with the pre-determined channel.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein said determination act further comprises the acts of: requiringthe viewer (102) to fill in an electronic form including the viewer'sprofile during the time substantially coincident with the broadcast ofan i^(th) commercial segment associated with the pre-determined channel;and transmitting the filled out electronic form back to a contentprovider (101).
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein said determination actfurther comprises the act of requiring the viewer (102) to participateinteractively, via an interactive application (115), to a product beingendorsed during the time substantially coincident with the broadcast ofan i^(th) commercial segment associated with the pre-determined channel.8. The method of claim 5, wherein said determination act furthercomprises the acts of: requiring the viewer (102) to fill in a barcode,or any other suitable code, that is uniquely related to an alreadypurchased product being endorsed during the time substantiallycoincident with the broadcast of an i^(th) commercial segment associatedwith the pre-determined channel; and transmitting the filled out barcodeback to a content provider (101).
 10. The method of claim 6, whereinsaid determination act further comprises the act of requiring the viewer(102) to respond in some manner to one or more prompts during the timesubstantially coincident with the broadcast of an i^(th) commercialsegment associated with the pre-determined channel.
 11. The method ofclaim 6, wherein said determination act further comprises the act ofrequesting that the viewer (102) rate the i^(th) commercial segmentduring the time substantially coincident with the broadcast of an i^(th)commercial segment associated with the pre-determined channel.
 12. Amethod for encouraging a viewer (102) to watch the commercial segmentsof a pre-determined channel, the pre-determined channel included as partof a broadcast signal (121) transmitted to a plurality of integratedreceiver devices (IRDs) (120) belonging to respective viewers (102), thebroadcast signal (121) being comprised of a plurality of channelsgrouped as one or more transport streams (117), each of said pluralityof channels comprising programming content (107, 108) interspersed withcommercial segments (113) and entitlement management messages (EMMs),the EMMs transmitted substantially coincident in time with thecommercial segments, the method comprising the acts of: (a) receivingthe broadcast signal (121) at a viewer's IRD (120); (b) determiningwhether the viewer's IRD (120) is tuned to a pre-determined transportstream during a time substantially coincident with the broadcast of atleast N commercial segments associated with said pre-determinedtransport stream; (c) rewarding the viewer (102) when said determiningact is satisfied.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the determiningact comprises the act of receiving and storing the EMMs transmittedsubstantially coincident in time with the commercial segments.
 14. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the rewarding act further comprises the actof using the previously stored EMM and an Entitlement Control Message(ECM) to generate a control word to descramble a future scrambledtelevision program free of charge to the viewer (102).
 15. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the broadcast signal (121) is distributed over one ofa wireless and/or wired system.
 16. A television broadcast system (100),comprising a television broadcast station (101) for transmitting abroadcast signal (121) comprising a plurality of channels grouped as oneor more transport streams (117), each of said plurality of channelscomprising programming content (107, 108) interspersed with commercialsegments (113) and entitlement management messages (EMMs), the EMMstransmitted substantially coincident in time with the commercialsegments, the system comprising: a broadcast station (101) comprising: abroadcast server (110) for providing interactive applications (115); atleast one source (105, 106) of said programming content (107, 108); amultiplexer (116) for combining said commercial segments (113),programming content (107, 108) and optionally interactive applications(115) to form said transport stream (117); a transmitter (118) fortransmitting said transport stream (117) as said broadcast stream (121)over a transmission medium (119); and an integrated receiver device(IRD) (120) comprising: a conditional access (CA) module for determiningwhether a viewer (102) is watching a channel corresponding to apredetermined channel and for storing entitlements, each storedentitlement corresponding to an i^(th) commercial segment associatedwith the pre-determined channel.